Presser for trousers, skirts, and the like



Dec. 13, 1955 H. WlTT PRESSER FOR TROUSERS, SKIRTS, AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18, 1953 INVENTOR HA RR y Wn'r QKMW ATTORNEY PRESSER FOR TROUSERS, SKIRTS, AND THE LIKE Harry Witt, New Rochelle, Y.

Application February 18, 1953, Serial No. 337,481

1 Claim. (Cl. 219-21) This invention relates to a presser for trousers, skirts and the like. i

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a portable electric presser for the creases of mens trousers and the pleats in womens skirts. This presser is provided with two flat jaws which face each other and which receive the garment between them. The two jaws are substantially, but not quite, parallel to each other since they are closer to each other at their inner ends than they are at their outer ends. The garment would be inserted between the two outer ends of the jaws and in the direction of their inner ends. I

The portable electric presser herein claimed acts in two ways upon the garment which is inserted between its jaws. In the first place, it physically squeezes the garment together to form or accentuate a crease or pleat. As the garment is drawn between the two jaws of the presser, it tends to pry or wedge them apart. Spring tension is provided to resist such wedging action and this spring tension causes the jaws to bear down upon the garment in order to provide the crease or pleat.

The portable presser herein claimed also provides a heating action with respect to the garment at the same time that it applies a squeezing or pressing action thereon. One of the jaws has an electric heating element mounted therein to provide it with sufficient heat to iron the garment at the same time that pressure is applied upon it. Before the presser is applied to the garment, its jaws abut each other at their inner ends. Consequently, heat is transmitted by conduction from the electrically heated jaw to the other jaw and both are thereby heated by the time a garment is inserted between them.

The pressing and heating actions take place simultaneously and each assists the other in producing the desired effect. Heat alone would not form a crease or a pleat in a garment. Pressure alone would not form a lasting crease or pleat. But the two together in the portable presser herein claimed combine to form a sharply defined and long lasting crease or pleat.

One of the important objects of this invention is the provision of a portable electric presser of the character described which is made of relatively few simple parts which are inexpensive to produce and to assemble. The final product is a highly efiicient pressing device which is low in cost of manufacture and which sells at a lower price to the ultimate consumer than any other device of like or similar nature. The two jaws are stamped and formed to shape. One of them is doubled to form two walls and a chamber between the two walls to accommodate the electric heating element. This jaw is also braced so that it will be held rigid. The other jaw requires no inner chamber since it does not have an electric heating element. Consequently, it has only a single wall with a relatively flexible connection with the handle. A leaf spring is provided between the handle and the latter jaw which urges it in the direction of the first mentioned jaw and resists the wedging action of the garment which tends to separate the two jaws.

2,727,130 Patented Dec. 13, 1955 The electric heating element is simply a coiled and insulated high resistance wire which is looped back and forth within the chamber of the double walled jaw. The extent of the heating action will be determined by the length of the coil of high resistance wire which is inserted into the double walled jaw. An important feature of this heating element is the fact that it is fully insulated before it is inserted into the jaw so that there is no need to provide any insulating facilities within the jaw itself.

A preferred form of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portable electric presser made in accordance with this invention, showing how it is applied to a garment, said presser being partly broken away to expose its inner parts.

Fig. 2 is a side view of said portable electric presser.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through said portable electric presser, showing the construction of its hollow handle and its two jaws and also showing the heating element mounted therein.

The portable electric presser herein claimed comprises the following essential elements: A hollow handle 10, a pressing jaw 12, a leaf spring 14 engaging said pressing jaw 12, a double walled pressing jaw 16, a brace 18 for said double walled jaw, and a heating element 20 which is mounted Within said double walled jaw 16.

Handle 10 consists of two shells 10a and 10b respectively which are held together by means of a screw 22. These two shells are made of thermo-setting plastics or hard rubber or any other suitable material which is not a good conductor of heat and which, at the same time, is heat resistant. There is a hole 24 at the back end of the hollow handle through which an electric cord 26 extends into the handle. This electric cord has the usual plug 28 at its outer end which is engageable with a conventional receptacle 3%. The inner end of the electric cord is secured to the heating element 20 and this may be done by means of a tubular connecting element 32. An insulating sleeve 34 covers said connecting element.

Presser jaw 12 is a rectangular member whose edges may be folded over or curled to give a rounded or smooth contour and appearance and thereby to prevent possible injury to the person using the device. Leaf spring 14 is biased to exert a tensional force upon jaw 12 and to urge it in the direction of hollow jaw 16. It will be noted that presser jaw 12 has an inwardly projecting tongue or extension piece 12a which parallels and abuts the inwardly projecting end of the leaf spring. A rivet 36 secures both the tongue 12a of jaw 12 and the inner end of leaf spring 14 to the inside of shell 10a of the handle.

Hollow jaw 16 is also rectangular in shape and it is formed of a single piece of sheet metal which is folded over upon itself to provide a pair of spaced, substantially parallel walls 16a and 16b respectively. The heating element 20 is disposed between said Walls. These two walls also accommodate the stifiening member 18 between them as Fig. 3 clearly shows. They have inwardly extending tongues or extension pieces 16c and 16d respectively which sandwich the stiffening member 18 between them and a pivot 38 is provided for securing said tongues and said stiffening member to the inside of shell 10b of the handle. The stiffening member is simply a narrow bar or strip of metal, such as steel, and it is narrow enough so as not to completely close or block the space between the two tongues 16c and 16d. It is therefore possible to draw the two ends of the heating element 20 between said tongues on either or both sides of the stiffening member as Fig. 1 clearly shows. The several tongues or extension pieces 12a, 16c and 16d comprise the means of properly securing the presser jaws to the shells which constitute the handle and they also comprise the means the leaf spring 14 and the brace 18.

The heating element 20 comprises a high resistance wire which is coiled around an insulating core and which is covered by a tubular insulating covering that is concentric with said core. A length of this heating element is looped back and forth upon itself and it is held together by means of a clip 40. Its looped portions are simply inserted into the space between Walls 16a and 16b of the hollow presser jaw 16 and the two ends project into the hollow handle. It is in the hollow handle that these two ends are connected to the two ends of electric cord 26 by means of tubular connectors 32.

The two jaws are made of sheet metal, such as sheet steel and they are suitably plated to prevent rust. Other suitable materials may also be used for the purposes of this invention.

Garment 42 shown in Fig. 1 is intended to illustrate any garment in which a crease or a pleat or the like is incorporated. It will be understood that garment 42 has a creased edge 44 which is shown to be inserted between the two jaws of the presser in position and readiness for the pressing operation. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the two jaws abut each other adjacent the handle and that they diverge from each other in the direction away from said handle. As the garment is drawn endwise between said jaws, it tends to wedge them apart against the action of leaf spring 14. The resistance of the jaws to such wedging action causes a pressure to be applied to the garment which, coupled with the heat which the heating element generates, irons or presses the crease in the garment.

The foregoing is illustrative of a preferred form of this invention and it will be understood that other preferred forms may be had within the broad spirit of the invention and the broad scope of the claim.

I claim:

A portable electric presser of the character described,

comprising a handle, a hollow presser jaw rigidly secured to said handle, an electric heating element mounted Within said hollow jaw, and a second presser jaw flexibly secured to said handle and resiliently urged in the direction of the hollow jaw, both jaws being substantially rectangular in shape and being normally in engagement with each other adjacent the handle and diverging slightly away from each other in the direction away from the handle, the means for resiliently urging the second presser jaw in the direction of the hollow presser jaw comprising a leaf spring which is secured at one end to the handle and which engages with its opposite end said second presser jaw, said leaf spring being biased to urge said second presser jaw toward the hollow jaw, said handle comprising a pair of plastic shells which are bolted together to provide a hollow space between them, the hollow presser jaw having an extension piece which projects into said hollow space in the handle and is secured to one of said shells, the second presser jaw being also provided with an extension piece which projects into said hollow space and which is secured to the other of said shells, and an electric cord which projects into said hollow space in the handle and is secured to said electric heating element mounted within the hollow presser jaw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,095,925 Pogue May 5, 1914 1,889,432 Bellman Nov. 29, 1932 1,950,498 Lehnen et al. Mar. 13, 1934 2,214,084 Lovice Sept. 10, 1940 2,243,061 Lamia May 20, 1941 2,398,302 Getgey Apr. 9, 1946 2,406,022 Little Aug. 20, 1946 2,461,006 Sowers Feb. 8, 1949 

